Russian senate repeals law allowing deployment of military in Ukraine

​Russia’s Federation Council has voted to repeal the legislation which allows the use of Russian armed forces on the territory of Ukraine if there is a threat to the local Russian population. The decision follows request of President Vladimir Putin.

153 MPs out of 154 voted in favor of the law’s cancelation, which
comes in force the day it is approved.

Russia will continue monitoring the situation in Ukraine,
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko told the
journalists after the vote.

“It doesn’t mean that, repealing this legislation, we will be
turning a blind eye if there are serious violations of people’s
rights [in Ukraine] or threats to their safety,” she said.

Matvienko said she doesn’t’ believe that the Federation Council
will vote again to adopt legislation allowing military action in
Ukraine.

“I think that we shouldn’t prepare ourselves for such a
scenario, we should all strive to continue dialogue, and a
peaceful way out of the crisis,” she added.

The Russian president’s proposition is a manifestation of
Russia’s goodwill and aims at supporting trilateral talks on
Ukraine, said Viktor Ozerov, Chairman of the Federation Council
Committee for Security and Defense.

“The Federation Council still has the right to monitor the
situation in Ukraine, follow the fulfillment of ceasefire
conditions by the parties [Kiev and Ukraine’s eastern
regions]…and provide humanitarian help,” he said.

Vladimir Putin’s request is not ‘correction work’ but a positive
signal to Western countries, says Ilyas Umakhanov, deputy speaker
of the Federation Council.

“Moreover, I hope that our Western partners will receive
these positive signals and stop inventing more scary stories
[about Russia] and abandon the policy of whitening radical groups
in Ukraine,” he added, “Russia has confirmed its status
of a great power, which defines its political course
independently.”

On Tuesday Putin asked the council to repeal the decision to
allow military force in Ukraine.

“Because of the beginning of the three-party talks to settle
down the situation in the eastern parts of Ukraine, the head of
state has addressed to the Federation Council to repeal the
resolution on the use of Russian armed forces on the territory of
Ukraine,” said presidential press secretary Dmitry
Peskov.

The Federation Council’s resolution from March 1 declares that
the president has the right to use military force on the
territory of neighboring Ukraine “until the normalization of
the social and political situation in that country.”

The resolution was adopted following a presidential address
demanding security be maintained “for citizens of the Russian
Federation, our compatriots and personnel of the Russian
contingent deployed in accordance with international agreements
on the territory of the [then-]Autonomous Crimean Republic of
Ukraine.”

On June 20, Ukraine’s new president, Petro Poroshenko, announced
a seven-day ceasefire from June 20 until the morning of June 27,
which was agreed to by the self-defense forces on Monday. On
Sunday he issued a warning, stating that he had an alternative
“detailed plan” of regaining control over south-eastern Ukraine,
should his current proposal for a truce fail to bring results.

However, despite the temporary truce, fighting continues in
eastern Ukraine. Nine soldiers have been reportedly killed in
Donetsk Region, after self-defense forces shot down a Ukrainian
army helicopter being used to transport military cargo.

At least three railroad tracks were also blown up by unknown
people in eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in the last
days. In Donetsk Region, 14 freight cars were derailed in what
railroad staff believe was a planned explosion.

According to People’s Republic of Donetsk, self-defense forces
shot down the helicopter as Kiev troops had violated the
conditions of the ceasefire.

“In fact there wasn’t even a minute of truce. [Kiev troops]
have been shelling us all the time,” said Andrey Purgin, one
of the leaders of self-declared republic, adding that on Tuesday
at least 150 Kiev forces attempted to seize the city of Donetsk.

Putin said he hopes that a cease-fire between Kiev and the
protesting regions in southeastern Ukraine will be extended
beyond the set date of June 27.